Supply of children's chewable medicine dwindling in Quebec, along with liquid Tylenol
The Quebec Order of Pharmacists is urging parents to resist the temptation to hoard certain hard-to-find children's medicines should they happen upon a well-stocked store.
Liquid suspensions of acetaminophen and ibuprofen for children remain in short supply in many pharmacies across the province and in the rest of the country, after several months.
On Tuesday, a Quebec manufacturer of generic and store-brand drugs, Laboratoire Riva, also reported a shortage of its chewable acetaminophen tablets.
But the order's president Bertrand Bolduc said stockpiling is not the answer and can even pose a risk to children who find it in the home.
"We don't advise to stockpile because acetaminophen is one of the most dangerous products for intoxication of kids, especially because it's flavoured," Bolduc said, adding that every year there are pediatric emergency room visits for suspected cases of poisoning.
He suggests parents ask their pharmacist for an alternative to the formats or concentrations they're used to giving their kids when they're in pain or have a fever, whether they're acetaminophen products known by the trade name Tylenol, or ibuprofen, contained in Advil products.
In addition, parents can turn to generic or house brands instead, although Bolduc conceded that stock of those products is also diminishing.
But there are solutions.
"Sometimes we're going to use a very similar product like pediatric oral drops that are used for newborns and that we can use for a little bit older kids," Bolduc said. "And if we have a teenager or someone who's able to swallow, we can use chewable tablets, possibly adult tablets they can cut and take with food, like peanut butter," he suggested.
In a pinch, it's also possible for pharmacists to compound the product, which means preparing it themselves by mixing the active ingredient with liquid suspension material.
"They can order the ingredients, and it's very easy to do. Every pharmacist has the ability to do that," he explained.
The shortages are being blamed in part on global supply chain issues, but drug manufacturers are doing what they can "to catch up," according to Justin Bates, the CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.
"The raw materials, sourcing, and putting all this together has caused challenges with respect to keeping and maintaining the supply of these products," Bates said. "And on top of that, we have unprecedented demand due to both cold and flu as well as fever and pain that we haven't normally seen at this time of year."
Bolduc agreed that the situation is highly unusual.
"Usually, when we have a drug shortage, we have a manufacturing plant that has a problem, there's been a flood, a fire," he said, "but this time it's likely due to unavoidable poor planning brought on by the pandemic."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.